Video: Bellator 84's Dave Jansen wants to do more than ruin Held's weekend

Not that there’s anything wrong with his nickname – “The Fugitive” – but Dave Jansen might have topped it without even realizing it.

Jansen (18-2 MMA, 5-0 BFC) on Friday meets Marcin Held (15-2 MMA, 4-1 BFC) at Bellator 84 in the Season 7 finals of the lightweight tournament. And the 33-year-old has some thoughts for Held, 20.

“I crush dreams,” he told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “I’m not just ruining peoples’ weekends. I make them rethink their entire careers. He’s just a kid. He’ll bounce back from this beating and he’ll be a champion in some organization long after I’m gone. But not this one.”

Bellator 84 takes place at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind., about 20 miles from downtown Chicago. The event’s main card airs live on MTV2 following prelims on Spike.com. Bellator 84 is the final event of Bellator’s seventh season and last on MTV2 before a move to Spike TV for Season 8 starting Jan. 17.

Held’s been OK in the dream-crushing department, himself. In the semifinals, he took out Rich Clementi with one of his signature leg locks, forcing the veteran to tap from a toe hold.

But Jansen said he believes he’ll hold the advantage on the ground if Held gets in position to go after a leg submission. Of Jansen’s 18 wins, he has 10 by choke – so he believes he can shrug Held off and impose his own will.

“I have (been working on knee bar defense),” he said. “I’ve got my wrestling and my boxing, so odds are I won’t even need to worry about jiu-jitsu. I’m not going to trade foot locks with a foot lock guy when I’m a choke artist. (If it goes to the ground), I’m just going to use my wrestling to either get on top in a dominant position, scramble to my feet or I’ll grab up a guillotine choke – I can’t pass on that.”

Jansen also won’t pass on trying to get a mental edge over his opponent. While some fighters eschew staredowns, Held finds a way to use them to his advantage.

And he’s already been in that position a couple times at the fighter hotel with his opponent, he said.

“I think it says something to me when they don’t make eye contact,” Jansen said. “I think it’s a fear scenario, really. I know some dominant guys who don’t make eye contact. But I get a lot from the staredown. I’ve spotted Marcin in the hallway twice and I gave a polite nod, and he just looked down at his feet after that. He just put his head down – right there for the uppercut. I’m going to bring it up with an uppercut and knock it off with my right hand.”

And that would indeed be a dream-crusher for Held.

Jansen and Held fight for a total of $100,000 in tournament prize money, and the winner gets a guaranteed shot at the lightweight title. Current champ Michael Chandler puts his belt on the line in January at Bellator 85 against Rick Hawn.

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